


The Best Meals Are Shared

by Lady_Ganesh



Category: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Friendship, M/M, Post-Canon, Trick or Treat: Treat, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-13 21:05:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16479749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Ganesh/pseuds/Lady_Ganesh





	The Best Meals Are Shared

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lynndyre](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lynndyre/gifts).



Sam had only been in Elven lands for half a year, but it felt both like it had been much longer, and no time at all. Everything felt home-like but still strange and unfamiliar at times. The elves were kind enough to him, though some seemed bemused at having a second hobbit in their midst. But he felt like an outsider much of the time, when he wasn't with his friends from the Fellowship.

Frodo was still not the young man that Sam had laughed and played with at home in the Shire, and never would be; he rested often, and spent much of his remaining time with his uncle. But the weight of carrying the Ring weighed less heavily on him in Tol Eressëa, and Sam was grateful for it, and grateful for Frodo's company when it came. Gandalf came and went, looking much the same as Sam had last remembered, and his good humor remained intact. Only Legolas and Gimli seemed to have been touched by the years the way Sam had been, and perhaps that was why Sam often found himself at the harbor with them, watching the ships pass.

"It's been a long time since I roasted a fish," he said, one afternoon. "Perhaps you'd accompany me?"

Sam and Legolas caught a pair of cod, both as broad as Gimli's arm, and Gimli offered to clean them. They built a fire behind the cottage Gimli and Legolas had come to share, and drank the beer Sam had brewed in the early days after his arrival. It was comfortable, being with them, and more pleasant for the knowledge that there was no threat around the corner or over the horizon to contend with.

"I'm not sure anyone can cook over an open fire the way you do, Sam," Legolas said. "I've missed this." He was sitting close to Gimli, their thighs all but touching, and for a second Sam was reminded of his own Robin, sitting with his wife by the fire, and he missed home, missed Rosie, so fiercely it was a pain in his heart.

But it passed, and he let himself be content in the moment, with the warmth of companionship easing the pain of his loss and the passage of time. And it was hardly a hardship to be with Legolas and Gimli; they were kind and welcoming, warm in word as well as deed. 

"I should cook for us tomorrow," Legolas said. "And Gimli the next day."

"Like old times," Gimli said, "but with fewer worries, and no fear of losing your good companionship."

"I'd like that," Sam said. Perhaps he might even be able to persuade Frodo and even Bilbo to join them, one of these days. 

They watched the sun set, in a silence that seemed to grow warmer, not cooler, as the light faded.

"I do have some bread up in the larder," Legolas said thoughtfully, after a time. "I suppose we could have a bit of a supper."

"That would be nice," Sam said.

Gimli reached over from the log that was serving as a bench and clapped Sam on the shoulder. "The greatest thing I learned from our journey was how to eat like a hobbit," he said, genially. "I think Legolas might be hiding some marmalade, and Thurilosbes brought newly ripened cheese this morning."

"You could have told me of the cheese," Legolas chided as he rose.

"I thought we might save it for guests," Gimil said.

"Oh, I see," he said. "Well, Samwise, come in, else I might never get to taste it."

Sam smiled, and followed them back into the warm light of the cottage.


End file.
